5.05.2009

With the advancement in technology, librarians are receiving requests for specific information from all parts of the world. Last week I received a very specific request from a person living in upstate New York.

RequestI am trying to find out about Little Flower Camp for Girls, which used to be near Tobyhanna in the 1940's. I attended that camp in the summer of 1949. It was supposed to be for 2 weeks but we were quarantined for an extra week because of the death from polio of a fellow camper. I know it was a long time ago but it was traumatic for a 7 year-old, her first time away from home. I have always wondered about the story behind that event.

In 1949 there were 38,153 cases of polio reported in the United States, so my chances of findingthis particular story seemed fairly good. I found an article in The Daily Record for Monroe County 8/11/1949 explaining about what had happened at the camp. What I found interesting was that the story was not on the front page of the newspaper but on page five. How the way that we report the news has changed.